Connections In The Night
by WitchChild17
Summary: When helping a human girl, Ash makes some startling discoveries and gets himself labeled as an enemy of the Night World. Since it is impossible for him to remain under the radar any longer, Ash must decide whether or not he wants to continue on with his one year long quest to gain Mary Lynette's trust and acceptance or make a commitment that makes his return to her unlikely.


The girl giggled and stumbled a little in her overly high neon pink high heels. She was so drunk that she had entered some sort of stupor. "Where are we going?" she asked, her words sounding extremely annoying.

Quinn rolled his eyes. Why did he have to pick one that was so irritating? He looked over at her and caught sight of her oddly visible blue veins. It seemed simply irresistible. "Just into the alley." he told her. The sooner they got there, the better.

"Ooohhh!" the girl said in an oddly childlike way. "You're so bad, you know." She laughed much too loudly. "The alley!"

He couldn't take it anymore. "Be quiet." he snapped at her.

She looked a little angry at that, but they had reached the alley. Quinn rushed to her suddenly and pinned her against the wall. Her eyes lost their faraway look and became wrought with confusion.

"What are you doing?" she asked. "Why-"

Before she finished her second question, he bit her. The blood flowed into his mouth easily. It tasted pure and barely touched. The alcohol levels were surprisingly low. _This girl was a lightweight, _Quinn thought.

Someone entered the alley. "What do you think you're doing?"

Quinn stopped suddenly and felt the limp form of the girl slump in his arms. He turned to see a kid watching him. "What's it to you?"

She looked at him with nerve in her eyes. "You were hurting that girl. I'm not going to just pretend that I didn't see it. Get out of here. Just leave whoever that is alone." She kept her tone steady and sure. As she looked at the person longer, she realized that there were things about the guy that looked inhuman.

He laughed. "Wow. A human with guts. Too bad I'm going to have to kill you."

She was a little reluctant now. "What?"

Without saying another word, Quinn dropped the body and attacked her in a flash. Right when the he moved in for the kill, someone else knocked into him and pushed him away. The kid was knocked to the ground in the process.

The new person, he had the appearance of an ash blond cat, stood in front of the person on the ground. "I can't let you do this, Quinn." he said loudly.

Quinn wasn't sure if his senses were functioning properly. "Ash? What are you doing?"

Ash took a deep breath and shook his head as if this was hard for him. "I can't let you kill this girl. It isn't right. There are other ways to survive." His tone was serious.

Quinn laughed, but when Ash continued to stand his ground, his smile vanished. A betrayed look formed on his face. "You- You're-" He seemed to be at a loss for words. "What happened to you, Ash? When did you become a human lover?"

He sighed. "Quinn, it's complicated. We've been wrong though. Humans-"

"No." he interrupted. "Don't try to sell me on this human love thing. I'm not going to go for it. I'm not going to say anything about this lapse in judgment if you just step out of the way, let me have the human, and get out of here like nothing ever happened." Quinn had to give Ash a chance to get away. He was his best friend. "No one ever has to know if you leave now."

He shook his head. "You're my best friend, Quinn, but even that can't change my mind. If you still want to kill this girl, you'll have to go through me to do it." Ash looked straight into his eyes without any intention of losing this battle. "Can you do that, Quinn? I mean really. Would you kill me to get to a human that means nothing to you?"

Quinn looked conflicted for a moment before responding. "No." he finally admitted. There was something that he had to make clear before leaving. "This is the only time though, Ash. Next time, I'm not going to let you go. If we cross paths like this again, I will kill you. The next time we see each other, we won't be friends. Understand?"

Ash nodded. "Yes." His tone was a little sad.

"One more thing." he added. "I'm not going to keep this little meeting a secret when Hunter Redfern asks for developments on what's been happening. If you know what's good for you, you'll find your cousin or someone else that shares your views and hide. There will be people out for your head after this." he warned and looked away. He looked back up and sighed. "Good luck, Ash. I hope you find whatever it is you're looking for with these crazy ideas." With that, Quinn turned to leave.

"Wait a second, Quinn." Ash said.

Quinn looked back at him, almost a little hopeful. "What?"

"The next time that we meet under these circumstances, I will kill you." Ash said. "I don't care if you try to fight or not. I won't hesitate."

Quinn stared at him in almost disbelief and flinched a little because of the stare he was receiving back. He straightened up once he realized what he had done. Ash could not see as weak. "Understood." he growled roughly under his breath. For the second time, Quinn turned around. This time, he was gone before another word could be spoken.

Ash spun around and held out his hand to the person on the ground. "Here. We need to go before someone else shows up. There's not a lot of time." His tone was solemn. When the kid didn't stand up, he was concerned. "Are you alright?"

The kid took his hand and was pulled up. She looked over to the girl that had been attacked. "What about her?"

He shook his head guiltily. "She's dead. Someone will find her, and she'll be indentified later on. It's out of our hands now."

"Who are you?" she questioned.

"Ash Redfern." he told her. "And you?"

"Rosamund." she stated. "Rosamund Ross."

He looked her up and down. She looked about ten. Quinn must have been royally pissed at someone or something if he was going to kill her. "Come on. We need to go. Make sure you keep up. We have to walk quickly."

She nodded. "Okay."

The two started weaving through the crowds.

Ash put his arm around her shoulder, so they didn't get separated. "Don't look anyone in the eye. Just walk and talk to me." he told her. "So what's a girl your age doing in the strip alone?" He was worried. Any ten year old could get themselves killed out here. It didn't matter if they were part of the Night World or not.

She looked at him oddly. "What's it to you? You know that girls can handle themselves just as well as any guy. Probably better."

He laughed lightly. "Trust me when I say that I know that. I'd be a completely different person right now if not for a girl. I'm just wondering about why a kid your age is by herself. Believe it or not, Las Vegas is more dangerous than people say." he warned.

She nodded. "I know. I'll tell you what I'm doing here on one condition."

He looked at her oddly. "What's that?"

"Tell me what's going on." she instructed. "I'm talking about Las Vegas. There's something strange here. I think that this girl my brother is dating is involved somehow, and I'm investigating."

He raised his eyebrows. "And who is this girl your brother is dating? Maybe I know her."

"Thea Harman." Rosamund told him. "I like her, but she's strange. When I first met her, she was hiding something, and now my brother's in on it."

Ash's expression changed. "Thea? I know Thea. What did she say to make you think that she's hiding something?"

She sighed. "Well lots of things really. Part of it was her cousin. Another time, when my hamster was sick, it was like she was able to ask her what was wrong. Then, on a day when I was upset, she told me this story that should have been brushed off as fiction, but the way she told it-" She shook her head. "I don't know. The way she told it made it sound as if she believed every word with all her heart or something. It was about two sisters." She thought for a second. "Maya and Hellewise."

He almost stopped in his tracks out of shock. "She told you that story?" he asked in surprise.

She nodded. "Yes. Why?"

He shook his head. "No reason. What-" He was cut off by a sleek black limousine stopping in next of them.

Someone in a suit walked around and stopped in front of them. He opened the door. "Get in."

Rosamund looked at the person next to her in slight fear. "What's going on?"

Ash shook his head again. "I don't know. Just follow me. It's going to be alright." He actually couldn't say that for sure. The pure panic in Rosamund's eyes made him lie. He didn't want her to know what he actually thought what was about to happen.

The two ducked into the limousine to have the door immediately shut behind them. Ash's eyes widened when he saw who was sitting in the seat directly across from them. This couldn't be good.


End file.
